Here's what happened at the Board of Education's January 5 Capital Improvements Committee meeting

The Savannah-Chatham Public School Board's Capital Improvements Committee met January 5 and discussed the following education sales tax funded building projects:

*Penny sales tax revenue collections are coming in millions less than expected. Operations Chief Otis Brock said the school system collected $5.7 million for school construction and improvement projects in September and $4.6 million in October. None of the promised projects will be eliminated. However, plans have been adjusted to complete some projects at a lower cost. The district plans to cut $11.5 million worth of corners in order to get the list of voter-approved projects completed.

*Security fencing has been put up at all but four of the district’s public school buildings. Board member Julie Gerbsch said the community should be consulted about the fencing to ensure that the public is not being fenced out of publicly funded playing fields.
Maintenance and Operations Director Michel Coon said new school building plans call for creating playing field areas that can be easily accessed by the public on weekends and after school without compromising school safety. Existing schools are being fenced so that gates can be opened to allow public access to playing fields but not school buildings.

* Various phases of construction are underway at Oatland Island, Bloomingdale, Pooler, Next on the list are White Bluff, Hesse, East Broad, Haven and Bartlett schools.

* Architects are in various stages of the design process for the following schools: Gadsden, Pulaski, and Windsor Forest elementary schools, Oglethorpe Middle, Beach High, the new West Chatham area high school and the K-8 school in Godley Station. Next in line for design plans are Windsor Forest High, May Howard and Heard elementary schools.

*Officials are working to resolve issues with an elevated sewage line and an MPC request for a traffic study at the Godley Station K-8 school.

* The district received 14 design proposals for the Beach High project. Staff will review them and make a recommendation to the Board in March.

*Work at Massie Heritage Center to upgrade electrical work, bring the building to American Disabilities Act standards and to repair roof timers and basement joists, is expected to be completed this summer. In the meantime, the building remains safe for occupancy.

*More than 800 security cameras have been purchased. The district’s video surveillance system has been effective in monitoring incidents on campus, however there have been some problems with a few specific cameras randomly shutting down. About 92 percent of the system is fully functioning, according to officials. Engineers are working to resolve the remaining problems.
“We just have little bugs that keep popping up,” Brock said.